March 2016

In case you can’t get enough Safari in your life, Apple has started up the Safari Technology Preview, for iCloud-enabled builds of Safari for those wanting a stable test platform. According to Ars Technica, the idea behind the Safari Technology Preview is the same as Google’s Chrome beta and canary developer builds, while offering more stability than something like the WebKit Nightlies, with updates being delivered via the Mac App Store.

One of Apple’s latest mini-sites is the one they put together showcasing the iPad Pro experience. Apple’s examples of the iPad Pro experience include the Microsoft Office suite as recommended apps, along with other third-party apps and Apple’s own first-party accessories that go together to complete the experience.

And we’re back! After a few days off courtesy of the Easter break, here’s a collection of things that happened while we were all busy consuming alarming amounts of chocolate eggs.

Apple may be downplaying the Apple Watch Edition online and in-store ahead of a refresh later this year, but their latest mini-site shows off the Apple Watch customisation experience with cases, bands, and faces. The three-step gallery lets you chop and change designs to get the perfect look, although it’d be cool if you could swap things independently, instead of as a three-step process.

The FBI has asked Israeli firm Cellebrite to assist in unlocking the San Bernardino iPhone. Cellebrite’s website says it offers mobile forensics solutions, but if they’re in the business of cracking the encryption on iPhones than that’s a different ball game. According to one forensic expert, the hardware-based approach of NAND mirroring could prove to the most viable option for accessing the data on the device, with Ars Technica telling us about how it all works.

John Gruber’s thoughts on yesterday’s Apple event summarise what was a fine event at Apple’s Town Hall location. He thinks the iPhone SE is a great model iPhone, the new display tech on the smaller iPad Pro is at least as good as its bigger sibling, but interestingly, his prediction on Apple removing Watch bands from sale seems a little off; there’s no precedent that I’m aware of where Apple has removed Watch bands from sale, they’ve just added to the collection every time.

If you were thinking that the rumours spoiled Apple’s announcements earlier this morning, you’re probably right. Apple’s event earlier today was short and sweet, getting to the point without spending undue time on product demos or lengthy monologues from invited guests — so while those wanting a little more were left somewhat disappointed, there will still plenty to get excited about.

If you prefer the spoiler-free version, you can watch the Keynote on Apple’s website or pour over the new, smaller, products over at Apple’s website. There’s a pretty cool new Apple Watch mini-site, too, otherwise, read on for a summary of everything that was announced.

With the Apple event scheduled to happen early tomorrow morning, 9to5Mac’s final prediction comes in the form of pricing and capacity for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. According to their sources, the smaller iPad Pro (and regular-sized iPad) will start at a higher price point than the current iPad Air 2, at the same time coming in both 32GB and 128GB storage capacities, with no word on whether there will be anything in between.

A packaging leak of the iPhone SE seems to suggest Apple’s smaller iPhone will come with NFC and come with a capacity of at least 16GB. Separate posts claim the design of the iPhone SE is similar to the iPhone 6 series, but not much else is known about specs. 9to5Mac tells us what they’d like to see in the iPhone SE before it will become a compelling option to switch to — but what I can’t get out of my head is how much more awesome the next iPhone will be.

Apple’s final court filing in its ongoing case against the FBI says that the FBI’s invocation of the 18-century All Writs Act goes too far. Ars Technica reports Apple saying the request by the FBI to assist in providing access to the iPhone at the centre of all this is entirely unprecedented and goes beyond what the All Writs Act would normally be used for. TechCrunch reports Apple saying that the government misunderstands the technology that would be involved in decrypting an iPhone.

The first photo of what’s rumoured to be the iPhone 7 Plus has surfaced. As per previous rumours, there’s a dual-lens camera system, housed in a protruding pill-shaped enclosure, as well as redesigned antenna bands. MacRumors claims it’s possible at least one model of the next iPhone won’t have a camera that’s flush with the rear casing.